


Divertissement

by BrighteyedJill



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Christmas, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-28
Updated: 2011-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-28 08:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrighteyedJill/pseuds/BrighteyedJill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pavel is thrilled to be dancing in <i>The Nutcracker</i> at the San Fransisco Ballet, but his life would be easier if he didn’t have a crush on the dancer playing Prince Charming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divertissement

_Tuesday Evening_

From his place in the upstage left wing, Pavel watched Prince Charming lift the Sugar Plum Queen in a graceful arc. They moved so beautifully, the pair of them. Pavel had thought that no dancers could outshine the prima ballerina and premier danseur at the Russian National Ballet, but these two danced with a warmth and life that fascinated Pavel. Though Pavel knew all of Prince Charming’s steps (part of his duty as an understudy), he wasn’t at all sure he could imbue the role with as much, well, charm as San Fransisco Ballet’s male star, Hikaru Sulu. The next move sent the couple chasse-ing downstage and out of Pavel’s line of sight. He leaned forward slightly to keep them in view, and someone grabbed his elbow.

“Pavel,” Janice Rand whispered from beside him. “Quit pining, or we’ll miss our cue.”

“I am not _pining_ ,” Pavel whispered back. He hadn’t realized she’d been watching him stare. He readied himself for the cue anyway, though it was still two full measures away. When he and Janice stepped out onto the stage with the rest of the Snowflake dancers, everything cleared his mind except the dance.  
\--

 _Wednesday Matinee_

“That’s what I told him,” Janice was saying. “But he doesn’t listen.”

Nyota hmmed and straightened up from her barre stretch. “It must be hard fitting into a new company, especially when he’s so far from home.”

“And so young,” Janice added. “My parents wouldn’t have sent me half way around the world when I was his age.”

“Pike wouldn’t have recruited him if he wasn’t brilliant.”

“I’ve seen him in understudy rehearsal. He is,” Janet said.

“That’s a point in his favor,” Nyota said. “Nothing catches Hikaru’s interest like someone who’s good at what he does.” She switched sides and leaned forward against the barre again. “How do you even know Pavel’s into him?”

“Trust me, he’s interested,” Janice said. Nyota shot her a skeptical look. “I know these things. Can you find out if he has a chance?”

Nyota looked quickly around the studio before giving Janice an exasperated look. “I try not to get involved in company gossip. You know that.”

“Yes, the Sugar Plum Queen is high above it all, I know.” Janice stuck out her tongue. “Come on, Ny! It’s Christmas! Love is in the air!”

“Something’s in the air,” Nyota muttered.

“Did someone say love?” Hikaru appeared at the barre behind Nyota. “Because I thought I saw love coming down the hallway just now.”

The studio door opened, and the rigid figure of Spock, the stage manager, slipped inside. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your thirty minute call.”

“Thank you, thirty” everyone chorused back automatically.

On his way out, Spock’s eyes caught on Nyota. He gave her a quick, nervous nod before ducked out again.

“Oh yeah,” Janice said, looking over Nyota’s shoulder to wink at Hikaru. “Something’s in the air.”  
\--

 _Wednesday Evening_

Pavel finished his last turn and held it until he caught Janice’s smile in the mirror. “That is it,” Pavel said, and dropped his arms. “I have become unacceptably sloppy in that last sequence.”

“You’re a way more dedicated understudy than I am,” Janice said. She leaned up to give Pavel a kiss on the cheek. “Two-show days make me want to curl up under a blanket and play brickout on my phone, and you’re _rehearsing_. It’s indecent.”

“I was thinking over this sequence last night, and realized I needed to review. My mind remembers, but it seems my body has forgotten.” Pavel shook his head ruefully. “It is the perfectionist in me.”

“I think you just like imagining yourself as Prince Charming,” Janice said, and poked him in the arm.

“It is not that,” Pavel muttered. True, he wanted to prove himself on this first show with a new company, but he hated to think of having to go on as an understudy, mostly because of the sharp pain he felt in his belly at the idea that anything bad could happen to Hikaru. “But please go on, get some dinner. I want to do this a few more times on my own.”

“Alright,” Janice said. She grabbed her sweater off the barre and headed for the door. “Don’t work too hard. You still have to dance tonight’s show.”

“Yes of course,” Pavel said. “I will not.” He felt a little wounded that Janice thought he might give anything less than his best at a performance. He returned to the stereo and cued up the music to the second half of Dance of the Snowflakes. He let it play a moment, thinking through the sequence, then re-cued it to just before Prince Charming’s entrance. He walked to the side of the studio, and was poised to begin when he heard the door open. Must be Janice coming back. “Did you forget your--,” he asked as he turned, but the words died on his lips as he saw Nyota Uhura standing in the doorway.

Even in warm-up pants and a plain black leotard, she looked elegant. “Hey Pavel.”

“Miss Uhura! Did you need the studio? I’m sorry. I can move.” He dashed over to the stereo and jabbed at the buttons until the music stopped. “Sorry.”

“Actually.” Nyota drifted further into the room. “Janice mentioned on her way out that you two had been doing some review. I missed a step today in the Pas De Deux, and wanted to go over it before tonight’s performance. Would you mind dancing it with me?”

Pavel stared at her for a long moment. He’d watched the Pas De Deux at the matinee (same as he did at every performance, squeezed into the far downstage right wing), and although he’d mainly been watching Hikaru, he was fairly certain Nyota hadn’t missed a single step.

“If you don’t want to--.”

“No, of course!” Pavel said quickly. “Yes, of course. I mean, certainly, Miss Uhura.”

“Good.” She glided over to the stereo and cued up the appropriate track. “And call me Nyota, please.” She pressed play, and, without leaving him any time to think, swept Pavel into the dance.

Pavel’s body knew what to do, even if Pavel’s mind was still reeling to catch up. After the first few measures, though, he managed to relax and enjoy the fluid beauty of dancing with Nyota, whose quiet, fierce grace was entirely different from Janice’s playful precision. Each turn, each lift, each step rang in Pavel’s chest until, when he at last leaned over Nyota in the piece’s final pose, he was practically vibrating with the joy of the dance.

Slow clapping echoed through the studio, breaking the spell. Pavel pulled Nyota upright and turned to see Hikaru leaning against the wall by the door.

“Well done.” Nyota patted Pavel’s shoulder. When she turned to Hikaru, her smug expression made Pavel think he was missing some important cue. “Like what you see, Hikaru?”

“Yeah.” Hikaru’s voice was quieter and rougher than Pavel had imagined. “Is that what it looks like when we dance that piece?”

“Something like that,” Nyota said.

“Well. It’s… nice.” Hikaru cleared his throat and straightened up. “Anyway, it’s nice to know you’re in good hands if I get hit by a trolley.”

“How sweet.” Nyota rolled her eyes.

“Well, don’t let me interrupt,” Hikaru said, and quickly ducking back out into the hallway.

Pavel looked sideways at Nyota, whose coy smile practically glowed. “Have I done something wrong?” he asked.

“Not at all.” She went to stop the music. “I think you’ve impressed him.”

“I only do not want him to think I am…” Pavel waved helplessly. “What is your expression? Gunning for him? For his role?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think he’s afraid you’re going to go all Natalie Portman on him.” At Pavel’s confused look, Nyota only smiled wider. “He has a special place in his heart for understudies.”

The mention of Hikaru’s heart should not have warmed Pavel as much as it did. “It is strange, yes?” Pavel asked. He wasn’t certain he should be asking Nyota about this, but somehow, after dancing with her, he felt she wouldn’t mind a few questions. “Most dancers are not happy about having a little shadow in the wings.”

Nyota glided over to the barre to begin a simple cool-down stretch. “Do you know how Hikaru got his first lead role here?”

“No.” Pavel found himself drawn to the barre beside her, thought he devoted only a token amount of attention to his stretches.

“Hikaru was understudying Greg McKenna for Albrecht in _Giselle_ ,” Nyota began. “McKenna had been with the company for years.”

“Albrecht is a wonderful role.”

“Yes it is. Hikaru and I had been in the corps together for two seasons, and this was his first big break.”

“What happened?” Pavel asked, entirely giving up his pretense of stretching.

“Two weeks before opening, McKenna got sick. Meningitis. He couldn’t dance.”

“So Hikaru went on as Albrecht,” Pavel said. He’d seen half a dozen productions of _Giselle_ , and had no trouble imagining Hikaru in the role of the handsome prince.

“Mmhm. He had some convincing to do, of course. The first rehearsal where he was filling in, he slipped on a grand jete. Pike gave him this look… you know the one,” Nyota said, and Pavel winced in sympathy. “I thought he was going to die of embarrassment.”

“But he didn’t,” Pavel said. He had a hard time imagining Hikaru doing anything clumsy.

“No, he didn’t. And he was brilliant. McKenna was technically great, of course, but Hikaru was… something else. He brought this vulnerability to the role, even when he had all this great confidence.”

“Yes,” Pavel said softly. “I can imagine.”

“So.” Uhura straightened up and stepped away from the bar. “I’m going to go get in costume. See you later, Pavel.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“And Pavel? Thanks for the dance.”  
\--

 _Thursday Evening_

“Actually, my parents were both in a modern dance troupe. I’m the old-fashioned one in the family,” Hikaru explained. He’d claimed his favorite of the couches in the labyrinthine basement of the theatre, and somehow found himself chatting with his handsome understudy.

“I am the only dancer in my family,” Pavel said. “My parents are both academics.”

“So how’d you get interested in ballet?”

“My parents took me to the Bolshoi when I was seven. After that, I made up my mind. I can be very stubborn. No, not stubborn. What I mean is determined. Yes, determined.”

“Maybe you mean stubborn, too,” Hikaru said. He liked the way Pavel blushed.

“I should go change,” Pavel said. He stood up abruptly and fled down the hallway with a gracefulness that never seemed to leave him.

Hikaru sat staring after him for a long moment, until Nyota dropped onto the couch beside him, disrupting his thoughts. “So, what do you think?”

“Of what?”

“Of what. Of Pavel, idiot.”

“He’s…” Hikaru wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t give Nyota more fuel for the fire: beautiful, talented, fascinating, almost too bright to look at.

“That’s what I thought,” Nyota said. Damn her for being fluent in the language of Hikaru’s silence. “Would you do something about it, already? You’re the big bad star, he’s in the corps. You’re going to have to make the first move.”

“Come on, Nyota. He can’t possibly be interested--.”

Nyota held up a hand. “Normally, I’d let you figure this out for yourself, but it’s Christmas. Time is short. I’d advise you to make this happen before the show closes.”

Hikaru scowled at her. “We have two performances left, Nyota.”

She just kept looking at him.

“Fine.” A slow grin spread over his face. “I’ll do something about Pavel as soon as you do something about Spock.”

Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly he regretted awakening her competitive streak. “You’re on.”  
\--

 _Friday Matinee, Christmas Eve_

As soon as Hikaru had stripped off his coat, he heard a knock on his dressing room door. For one wild moment, he thought it might be Pavel. But when he opened the door, Spock stood there with his hands behind his back.

“Mister Sulu,” he said. “May I speak with you in private?”

Hikaru sighed. He should have known better than to bluff Nyota. “Sure.” He waved Spock inside and closed the door behind him on the bustle of dancers arriving for the show.

As soon as the door had closed, Spock said, “Miss Uhura and I have entered into a romantic relationship.”

Hikaru looked to the ceiling, decided that a plea to the heavens would probably be not in the Christmas spirit, and then looked at Spock and nodded. “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday evening. I was led to understand that this occurrence would have some sort of significance for you?”

“Yeah. Well thanks, Spock.”

Spock left, closing the door behind him, and Hikaru went to scowl at his reflection in the mirror. “You have only yourself to blame,” he said. He got into his costume quickly, to give himself the minimum possible time to chicken out, and then headed down the hall to the rest of the dressing rooms.

By some miracle, he passed Pavel standing in the hallway, stretching against the wall.

“Hey,” he said, in what he hoped was a casual tone.

“Hello.” Pavel didn’t move out of fifth position, but Hikaru noticed him correct his stance just a little. “Only two performances left, yes?”

“Yeah.” Sulu looked quickly up and down the hall to determine that none of the other dancers were within earshot. “Pavel. Would you be… interested in drinking something sometime?”

“Drinking what?” Pavel looked honestly confused.

“Ha. Water, probably.” Hikaru tried a self-deprecating smile. “Seems like that’s all I drink nowadays.”

“Are you thirsty?” Pavel’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, do you want to get a drink?”

“I try not to drink before a performance.”

Hikaru closed his eyes for a moment, and tried to center himself the way he did before a jump. Then he looked directly at Pavel. “No, I mean do you want to go somewhere with me to get a drink later? On a date, Pavel. I’m asking you on a date.”

Pavel’s wide eyes got impossibly wider.

“Pavel! You going to get in make-up or what?” Janice called from the corps dressing room. When she saw who Pavel was talking to, she pressed her lips together. “Sorry. Take as long as you want,” she said quickly, and ducked back inside.

“No, sorry, of course!” Pavel said, backing up one impossibly graceful step with each word. “Hikaru… I have to go.” He turned and fled.

“Sure, sure,” Hikaru muttered to his retreating back.

Uhura appeared behind him. “Well, you’ve got the rest of the day, at least.”

“I’m going to drop you on your ass, I swear.”

“No you won’t.”

“No, I won’t. I need your help.”  
\--

 _Friday Evening, Closing Night_

“What am I going to do?” Pavel moaned. He stood on the fire escape next to a huddle of smoking corps members. He could be sure, at least, that Hikaru wouldn’t think to look for him here.

Janice flicked her ash over the edge of the railing and pretended to consider the question. “Well, one of your options is going on a date with a handsome, talented guy you have a crush on, so I’d pick that one.”

“I cannot go on a date with Hikaru Sulu,” Pavel whispered frantically. “I am not playing in the same division!”

“Please.” Janet rolled her eyes. “ _He_ asked _you_ out, which means that argument is officially bogus. Next objection?”

“I will only embarrass myself! I am so clumsy compared to him.”

“You’re a professional ballet dancer,” Janet said. “If you were clumsy, you’d be out of a job. So that argument’s no good, either. Next?”

“I… I can’t! I ran away like a coward when he asked me!”

“Okay, that one’s a legitimate concern,” Janet conceded. “I’ll offer you a free tip from someone he’s been dating guys longer than you have; it tends to bruise a guy’s ego when you run away after he confesses his crush. Or his undying love. Or whatever. So I’d avoid that in the future. For now, however--.”

“I am doomed. I ruined my chances.”

“Are all Russians so gloomy? Come on, Pavel. If I can find a suitable way for you to make it up to him, will you agree to the date?”

“Yes,” Pavel said slowly. He wasn’t quite sure how Janice had maneuvered him into this, but he was willing to trust her.

“Good. See you onstage.” She tossed her cigarette into the ash canister and darted back inside before Pavel could ask her what she had planned.

Pavel managed to shed his romantic worries when he stepped onstage (which had always been one of his favorite things about dancing), and so by the time they reached the final waltz, he had almost forgotten Janice was supposed to be planning something. Just before the two of them entered with the rest of the corps for the coda, Janice squeezed his hand and said, “When I say go, kiss him.”

“What?” he squawked, but she’d already leaped onto the stage, and he had no choice but to follow.

At the end of the coda, the curtain came down on the Kingdom of Sweets, and the entire company swarmed into their place for bows. “We’ve got about twenty seconds,” Janice said, and grabbed Pavel’s hand.

Pavel found himself tugged out of his usual place in line, and he had only a second to notice Nyota pulling Hikaru forward before he was face to face with Prince Charming himself: his hairline damp from the exertion of his final dance, his eyes wide with surprise, and his mouth slightly parted. It was that last that reminded Pavel of his cue.

“Go,” Janice said.

Before he could lose his courage, Pavel grabbed Hikaru’s shoulders and pulled him into a kiss.

For a moment, the bustle around them faded away from Pavel’s awareness. He didn’t notice the stage lights, or the clapping coming from beyond the curtain, or the chattering of the dancers forming up around them. Hikaru was kissing him back, and that was all his mind had room for.

When they parted, Hikaru’s grin looked as wide as the one Pavel could feel stretching his own face.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Hikaru. “I’ll see you in my dressing room after the show, then?”

“Yes,” Pavel said.

Then he found himself pulled again, and saw Hikaru spinning away. Pavel and Janice hit their marks just as the curtain started to rise. As the audience showered them in thunderous applause, Pavel knew that this was the first of many lovely Christmas seasons.


End file.
